Matsuzaki

“Matsuzaki Town” is a scenic town, located along the coast of southwestern area of Izu Peninsula in Shizuoka Prefecture. The beach spreads out ahead and the fishing is enjoyable at a fishing port. They became a member of “The Most Beautiful Villages in Japan” union in 2013. The quaint buildings of “Namako Walls” which remain all over the town, “Terraced Rice Fields in Ishibu” which spread in tiers on the slopes of the mountain, and “Shiozuke-no-sakuraba (salted cherry leaves)” which have 70% of the domestic market share, have been registered as regional resources.

The features of Nishi-Izu in which Matsuzaki Town is located are the rough landscape and the difference of elevation. It must be enjoyable to watch blue of the sea and a varied landscape if driving a car along the coastline. It is recommended to walk about the town in order to know Matsuzaki Town, which is a port town surrounded on three sides by mountains. When stepping into the town against a backdrop of the beach and Matsuzaki port, the scenic buildings called “Namako Walls” with prominent appearance come in sight. This is one of the style for plastering made of square tiles jointed with raised plaster, and the contrast between white and black is impressive. It was so named because it looks like “Namako (sea cucumber)”. It is said that the size of its rising represents the financial power of the house. The buildings of such “Namako Walls” remain in all over Matsuzaki Town which merchants who made a fortune from such as the cargo vessel business lived.
Then, when driving into the mountains about 15 minutes from the central district of the town, “Terraced Rice Fields in Ishibu” spreads on the slopes of the mountain facing the sea, overlooking Suruga Bay and Mt.Fuji. The rice fields spread in tiers in mountainside like a geometric design are irregular in size, but it is one of beautiful original landscape of Japan enough to feel regular consistency.
Third regional resource following on “Namako Walls” and “Terraced Rice Fields in Ishibu”, is “Shiozuke-no-sakuraba (salted cherry leaves)”. As you know, 70% of sakuraba that is used for such as sakuramochi (Japanese sweets consisting of pink-colored rice cake and red bean paste), has been cultivated in Matsuzaki Town and plays an important local industry of the town as the largest production place in Japan. There are people who enjoy bathing, fishing, and marine sports like canoeing in the sea, and the trail tour driving by mountain bike through the ancient road, on which was maintained and regenerated, is in popularity in the mountain. There are the rich natural resources packed closely in a compact town. The town has been developing in “Matsuzaki's way” without resorting to big companies.

Interviewed in July, 2016